Title: The Quiet Things

By: KuroSakura-chan/KuroSakura

Summary: What started as an enjoyable outing with friends ended much, much worse than anyone expected.

Category: Final Fantasy VII

Genre: Horror

Warnings: Horror

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII.

-Cid-

The sight would stick with Cid for the rest of his days. He used this place for test flights, since few people came this close to the Nibelheim mountains, which meant if something went wrong, he would be the only one in danger.

He could remember, when he was a much younger man, that groups of adventurers used to cross the mountains and the plains to Rocket Town, his home. But that was seldom, and stopped completely about twenty years prior, which was why he was surprised to see the four people running after his plane, waving their arms. One, a girl, if he could trust his eyes, stumbled and fell. The other three stopped to pull her to her feet, and Cid lost sight of them quickly.

Cursing himself for soft, he swung the plane around and landed in the clearest-looking space on the plain, offering a muttered prayer in thanks for no hidden rocks. He threw off the seatbelt and leapt from the plane, the spear he kept behind his seat clutched in his right fist. The plains had been pretty clear of monsters for some time, but Cid didn't like risks. At least, he didn't like risks that weren't necessary for flight or space exploration.

Checking his grip on the spear, Cid took a deep breath and started jogging in what he judged to be the direction he had last seen the group. If the girl had tripped on something, they may have run on in the direction they'd seen him flying, but Cid was willing to bet the girl had fallen in exhaustion. If he was right, then the four of them would not have been able to get far from where he'd last seen them.

About five minutes after leaving his plane, he heard three rapid gunshots from his left, but he couldn't see anything on the horizon. Open distances could distort sound as well as distance, but the shots were followed by shouts and more gunshots. Angling left, Cid started to run. He was no knight in shining armor, but he could not leave people in trouble to die.

As soon as they began, the sounds of battle vanished, leaving the sounds of a woman laughing hysterically. Cid slowed to a creeping walk, holding his spear in both hands, the point level with his waist. A few more steps brought him to an unexpected gully-another danger of these plains-and the two young women within it. One, whose laughter drew him, sat rocking back and forth on her knees, clutching an over-sized shuriken in her left hand, her right arm hanging at an awkward angle and obviously broken. He'd seen shurikens like hers in Wutai, and she certainly looked Wutaian with her jet-black hair and lithe body. She lacked curves, and her hair, which looked to have been cut and styled at one point, probably hinted at her being still young enough to disobey her elders' wishes and therefore flesh out with age. She was splattered with blood, and though he could see a gash stretching from her nose to her ear, there weren't enough wounds for it all to be hers, unless she was bleeding under all of her clothes.

The other girl, the one he'd seen fall, was huddled in on herself, shaking. Her hair looked to have been longer until very recently, and it was not cut off by personal preference. In fact, it looked to have been hacked off haphazardly. Her pink dress, now mostly brown from lack of wash and bloodstains, was torn in several places, exposing enough of her skin that Cid could see bruises and cuts littering her body. There was a pool of blood slowly expanding from between her knees, which meant she had an open wound he couldn't see.

A staff lay beside her, looked to have been dropped in haste when she collapsed into the gully. It was dented and bore stains and goo from fighting. The Wutaian's shuriken was in much the same condition, even missing a point at one of its ends.

A sob ripped from the girl in pink, drowning out the Wutaian girl's laughter, and she shoved her hands over her mouth as the sobs continued.

Cid shook his head and stepped closer to the gully so the girls would be able to see him clearly. They had been through hell, that much was obvious. He grounded the spear, then whisteled sharply. The mad laughter cut off immediately and the sobs turned to shrieks of terror. The Wutaian hefted her shuriken while trying to struggle to her feet as the other girl crawled closer to her, leaving her staff where it lay on the ground.

"I won't hurt you. My name is Cid. I saw you from my plane." He had to shout to be heard over the girl's shrieks, but it seemed to work. At least, when he mentioned the plane, the Wutaian ceased trying to stand and dropped her shuriken to start smoothing the other's hair.

"Ssh, ssh, ssh, Aerith..." She murmured. "He was on the plane. We are safe..." Her words worked; Aerith, as she called the other, quieted after a moment.

Cid, taking this as permission to, slid carefully into the gully. He stayed out of reach of the girls as they both tensed when he started to move closer. "I only have Potions, but once we get to Rocket Town, I'll make sure you get proper care." He fished two Potions from his pocket and set them between himself and the girls, taking another step back from his original position and sat down on his heels. The Wutaian eyed him suspiciously before leaning forward and grabbing the Potions.

"You will take us on your plane?" She asked while forcing Aerith to swallow a Potion.

Cid nodded. "It might be a little fuck-er, I mean, awkward, but I'll get you to Rocket Town. But, weren't there four of you?"

The Wutaian nodded, her eyes filling. "They...They went to hold them back while we ran..." Aerith started to sob quietly.

Cid stood. 'Hold them back'? Hold who? "I'll go give a look."

He didn't wait for them to say anything before he climbed out of the gully. He remembered where the shots had come from, so he started walking that way. He almost didn't want to know what had happened to these kids, but he couldn't leave them here to die.

He walked carefully for about five minutes, dodging gullies, before he found the other two.

Surrounded by six monstrous corpses, a silver-haired male was laying on his side, facing away from Cid. He was drenched in blood that was turning black as it dried, and, as Cid noticed when he walked closer, murmuring under his breath.

"Come on, Vincent, come on...Oh, gods, there is so much blood...Don't die on me, please don't go...Fuck, the blood, I can't stop the blood..." He was clutching the left arm of a black-haired male, trying vainly to stop the bleeding from the stump where a hand should be. "No, Vincent, please, baby, please open your eyes, please...Don't die don't die don't die..."

A/N: Hey loves! Please leave Reviews, they help me get my ass on track. Also, if you are reading this on fanfiction dot net, there will be...edits done. You can find me on the adult version of this site under "KuroSakura."